Right Here
by titangirl161
Summary: One shot Introspective piece.  Tsuna gets injured, and the gaurdains all think about the times he was there for him.  Meanwhile, Tsuna remembers what the best things in his are.  mild cursing


Hello friends and haters I'm back again, for another Reborn! story! YAY REBORN! This has been sitting in my head for a long time now, and I even told my bfriend/beta about the idea months ago, but authoress is lazy, so it's coming out now! ^_^U So my puppy-muse Scribble will do the disclaimer and we'll begin!

Scribble: We do not own Reborn!, but we do own a very awesome looking hyper-dying-will-mode Tsuna plushie, courtesy of our beta.

Said beta, What2callmyself? is quite awesome for many reasons, one of them being that she betas for me! ^_^

Musical Inspiration: Brandy song with the same title

Right Here

There were five screaming teens (and one bawling kid) all running into the hospital as a 17-year-old Tsunayoshi Sawada was rushed into the emergency room.

After giving Mafia life and his future a LOT of serious thought, Tsuna came to his decision that he later told to the Ninth…he would accept his role as the Vongola Decimo, but he just wanted to finish high school first…and on his eighteenth birthday, he would take over as the head of the Vongola Family. He spent the last two summer breaks in Italy, learning about the Vongola, and just what it was exactly he would do. He also took on various missions with his family, who were also invited to Italy to see just what they were in for. Yamamoto was still as clueless as he always was, not really getting that he was, in fact, joining a mafia family. Gokudera was as excited as a puppy, and had a great time telling Tsuna all sorts of things about his home country, and teaching him some Italian (although Tsuna hated to tell him that the things he learned the fastest were the Italian curse words Gokudera often shouted). Chrome was a bit anxious and a bit nervous at first, being in a strange new place, but soon relaxed and was really taking her position as future Mist Guardian seriously (even though it was a duty shared between her and Mukuro, but, not surprisingly, Mukuro had gotten himself locked up in the Vendicare Prison AGAIN). Lambo was usually off telling his family about the adventures he was having with the Vongola Family. Ryohei was often screaming about how "EXTREME!" everything in Italy was. And the only reason Hibari even came to Italy in the first place was that it gave him an opportunity to fight Dino (with his mumbling about how he was "finally going to bite that stupid herbivore to death").

Yes, it was crazy, having all six of them stay in the same place together. As Tsuna was learning about his position from the Ninth, the others were learning themselves from the Ninth's Guardians. But Tsuna couldn't help himself from smiling at all the craziness. Despite everything, they were his best friends in the whole world, truly, his family. And he would do anything to keep them alive and safe, and spending everyday with them…it was just like it had always been. Of course, it wasn't quite a peaceful life, but what could one expect in the Mafia? And mostly, things had been pretty peaceful, as all the other Mafia families accepted Tsuna as the new upcoming boss of the Vongola. Even Xanxus, despite his obvious displeasure, had been otherwise pretty mellow, at least enough to keep him from killing Tsuna. And, after the upcoming summer, Tsuna would pack and head off to Italy for good (he was going to try to tell his mother that he was working for a foreign company that Reborn told him about, he only hoped she would buy it. He wanted to leave the whole Mafia part out of it) and would take place in the official Inheritance Ceremony (and this time, it wouldn't be interrupted by angry Shimon Family members, as one of the things he did immediately was help to get rid of the stigma on the Shimon Family, as he wanted them, especially Enma, to be at the ceremony) and would be named the official head of the Vongola Family. Sometimes thinking about it still made him tremble a little, but when the thought occurred to him the first time, the shaking was so bad it was almost convulsing. It had gotten less and less every time, and now was just down to a slight tremble.

He had gone to Italy for the winter break, and was sent on what looked like an easy mission- he was supposed to be doing some negotiating with the Todd Family, but it was obvious as soon as they got there and gunshots whizzed past them that "negotiating" obviously didn't mean the same thing for the Todd Family. The seven of them took off immediately, as the Ninth had been thinking such a thing could happen and told them if things got bad, to fall back and the hit men and assassins of the family would take over and "take care of the situation", although Tsuna secretly hoped it wouldn't come to that. But as they all were retreating, Tsuna stayed slower, falling behind, making sure all of them were there. But when Lambo tripped, Tsuna ran over and picked him up, carrying him, which was when he got shot himself. He forced himself a little further, and was just about to lose consciousness when Lambo, seeing the wound and the blood pouring out, let out an ear-piercing scream which got the attention of the rest of the family who turned just in time to see him collapse.

Of course they had a medical team ready in case it was needed, but no one thought that the boss himself would take such a serious hit. The medical team was there almost instantly, but in the meantime, the Vongola Guardians were in the middle of a freak-out fest as they desperately tried to think of something, ANYTHING, to help Tsuna.

Tsuna was immediately rushed to a hospital owned by the Vongola, and all the Guardians were still in the middle of panicking. They all tried to go into the operating room with him before being nearly literally pushed out by the doctors, telling them they needed to wait outside (except Hibari…carnivores did not scream, or run around like a headless chicken, so he very calmly walked in and quietly sat down and took a nap in the waiting room).

Lambo responded by slamming himself into the door, wailing, "TSUNAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"SHUT UP COW! It's your fault he's like this! Because he had to go back and rescue your useless ass!" Gokudera screamed at him.

Lambo, who was worried so much about the boy who was the closest thing he had to a big brother, and knowing that Gokudera was right, that it was his fault Tsuna was hurt like this, didn't respond but continued bawling.

"DON'T YELL AT HIM!" Ryohei yelled.

"YOU'RE YELLING TOO!" Gokudera yelled back.

"I ALWAYS TALK EXTREMELY LIKE THIS! And it's not his fault! Just because you're upset and worried doesn't mean you can take out your frustrations on him!"

Gokudera pounded his own fist into the door, feeling miserable, and knowing Ryohei was right. "It's my fault," he said softly, feeling tears welling up. "I'm his right hand man, I was supposed to be looking out for him. But instead he was behind us, alone, looking out for us…that's not how it's supposed to be. We're his guardians, we're supposed to protect him, not the other way around." He still remembered when he first met Tsuna, how even after trying to kill him, Tsuna still saved his life, instead of running away and letting him get blown up.

Ryohei looked down, and his voice was abnormally soft for the boxer. "But Sawada has always been like that…he is always more concerned about us instead of worrying about himself. He wouldn't be Sawada if he let us protect him." He still remembered boxing against Tsuna for the first time, and how after Tsuna got a hit on him, he had been totally concerned about if he had hurt him with his punch.

"Why didn't I make clones?" Chrome berated herself as she sat on the floor. "I thought about making everyone illusion clones to throw them off, but I didn't do it. Why didn't I make clones of the boss, so they wouldn't have shot him? I'm so stupid!" Chrome finished yelling at herself with that last outburst before sobbing quietly into her knees. Even though he had never met her before, and knew nothing about her or even who she was, Tsuna had still been willing to accept her into his family and fight the mist battle as a guardian. He had always been so kind to her, and yet she could do nothing for him…it seemed he was always rescuing her.

And Yamamoto didn't even try to keep the peace, being in no condition to. "We should've known this was a trap. We never should've just gone out there like this. It's all our faults that this happened." He could barely remember the last time he felt this miserable…when he had broken his arm after practice and had nearly committed suicide…yet it had been Tsuna who had come to stop him and even save them when they both fell off the roof. The thought of losing his close friend now, like this…Yamamoto felt tears come to his eyes too.

Hibari opened his eyes a second. He still remembered his dream about the future and how exciting it had been fighting the future Tsuna…it would be such a loss if he never got the opportunity to fight that Tsuna in the future. And he fell back asleep thinking about it.

~In the Operating Room~

"How is he?" Reborn, who managed to break his curse and return to his previous form, asked Doctor Shamal, who was overseeing the unconscious Tsuna.

"First, I want you to know this went completely against all my principles, working on a guy. And second, we've done all that can be done…the rest is up to him."

Reborn sighed. "He better be fine…he is my pupil of course. That's the only thing that could beat shooting the Todd Family boss in the face."

Doctor Shamal just laughed.

Inside Tsuna, he was wandering aimlessly, like in a dream. He could see a strange black mist approaching him, and really didn't like the look of it. But no matter how fast he tried to walk or run, it seemed to keep moving towards him at a steady speed. As he was trying to figure out how to get away, he heard a voice.

_The only way to get rid of it is to find the strength to do so. Think of something happy. Remember a happy time…and do it quickly, before it gets too close._

The voice sounded a lot to Tsuna like Giotto, the Primo.

"Something happy, something happy," Tsuna muttered to himself as the black mist approached closer. Tsuna went into panic mode. He racked his brain then-

"Good morning Juudaime!"

Why did he think of that?

But in his mind, he saw Gokudera, his bright smile and cheerful voice he greeted Tsuna with every morning. This was followed by-

"Yo, Tsuna!"

It was Yamamoto, also with a big smile on his way to school. Gokudera scowled at him a little, and Tsuna sighed. These two always appeared outside his house to walk to school with him every morning. But he was always glad to have someone to walk with and talk to on the walk every morning. And as the three friends walked to school together, he found himself smiling easily. With these two, nothing ever seemed as bad, nothing seemed impossible, and it made him feel like the peaceful school days could go on forever. Then when the three got to school-

"Hey, Sawada!"

It was Ryohei, and with him, Kyoko. "Good morning Tsuna!"

"Good morning!" Haru, who had went to the same high school as the others, chimed in as well.

Just seeing Kyoko and Haru, who knew all about his mafia activities and yet supported him and cheered him on all the way, made Tsuna feel about a million times better. He smiled brightly at the two girls. "Good morning Kyoko, Haru!"

"Um...good morning boss," a shy voice spoke up, and Chrome peeked out at Tsuna from her place half hiding behind Kyoko.

Tsuna smiled at his shy mist guardian. She had continued going to their school after leaving Koukyou land, but Tsuna was happy to have her around, and just wanted her to be happy and not too bummed about not being with Mukuro. "Good morning to you too, Chrome!"

"Tsuna heeeeeeeeeeeelp!" a voice whined, and when he looked down, he saw Lambo crying onto his leg.

Tsuna sighed. Lambo had started going to a grade school near the high school he went to, but often got lost and came crying to Tsuna to help him find his way to school.

"Stupid cow, how can you get lost everyday?" Gokudera insulted him.

Lambo glared at him tearfully. "You'd never be able to find it in a million years, Bakadera!"

"Why you-!" Gokudera attempted to jump at Lambo, had Ryohei not held him back.

"It's ok Lambo, see, I-pin is right there, just go with her," Haru said, pointing to I-pin, who was on her way to the same school. Lambo sniffed and ran off after I-pin, following her to school.

"You herbivores better get to class in two minutes or you'll all be bitten to death," Hibari growled as he stalked up to the group.

"HIIIIIIIII!" Tsuna squeaked as he ran of to class with everyone, while Reborn watched this scene with his usual smile. But even still, Tsuna couldn't help but smile. These peaceful days…going through them with his friends, in the place they all met and came together to form this crazy family…they were really some of the happiest times of Tsuna's life.

And more than anything, Tsuna just wanted to return to them, to be with his family again, to return to that place…to watch the fireworks with them again.

He was so lost in his happy recollection that he hadn't noticed the black mist had disappeared and had been replaced by a blinding light….

Tsuna opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling. "Where am I?" he mumbled to no one and anyone.

"Heaven?" a voice suggested, and Tsuna turned his eyes to see Doctor Shamal.

Tsuna looked confused. "It can't be heaven if YOU'RE here."

Shamal's jaw dropped and Tsuna heard a laugh. He turned to see Reborn was the one laughing. "Reborn? What happen-" he trailed off as he remembered what he had been doing. "I WAS SHOT!"

"Yes, you were, but you were lucky…it was a clean shot, the bullet passed right through and hit nothing major, so you're going to be fine."

Tsuna sat up and felt pain shoot up his side. "I don't FEEL so lucky…."

Reborn grinned. "Yeah, you won't feel that way for a few days, but I've been shot worse, so you should be fine." He paused, enjoying Tsuna's uncomfortable-looking face a moment, then asked the question. "While you were out, I saw there were tears in your eyes…were you having some sort of horrible nightmare?"

"No! Not at all! I was…I was just thinking about my friends…and the peaceful times we had together at Namimori…I think I woke up because of how much I wanted to see them again."

Reborn smiled. "Well, you're not the only one who felt that way, you know." He unlocked the door of the room. "It's not a one way street here…want to know how they felt waiting out here for you?"

At the sound of the lock clicking, five of the six people had jumped up to the door and they all burst into Tsuna's room at once, all screaming his name as they rushed to his bed. Hibari looked up, saw he was all right from his chair, and snorted, "Stupid Herbivore" and left, because he hated crowds.

But meanwhile, Lambo, still hysterical, had jumped into Tsuna's lap and continued to bawl. Chrome's tears had turned to those of relief. Yamamoto had finally let the tears fall, just so happy he was alright. And Gokudera and Ryohei argued over every little thing that had happened, from who said what to who was crying, to who believed in Tsuna and that he would be all right more.

Shamal and Reborn watched on with a smile. "That kid is really something…you and your weird little bullets really turned his whole life around."

"The bullets had nothing to do with it," Reborn told Shamal. "Tsuna always had these good qualities…understanding, acceptance, kindness and caring…Tsuna was always like that. But all of his doubts and insecurities choked out and kept those traits from being seen. It's true that the dying will bullets caught the attention of these people…it made them approach him, but it didn't make them stay. Getting even just that little boost of confidence, it let the true person he was show. And seeing Tsuna, the kind person, who wanted to understand people, who could accept even his enemies, who cared about his family more than anything else…that's what kept them at his side. That was all him. The dying will bullet may have brought them to him, but it was Tsuna himself that made them stay."

But Tsuna and his family were too busy being happy to see the other again they didn't even hear Reborn's words.

They were a family again…that was all that mattered.

Scribble: This ran too long.

Me: Yeah, I meant for it to be shorter, and once again, it sounded much better in my head. Oh well, I still wrote it! I REGRET NOTHING! So everyone, here's my Reborn! story! I'm writing a Gintama story next, and then who knows what? So let me know what you think! Flames telling me I suck without telling me how to improve are worthless, and therefore ignored. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Good reviews are loved. So until I return to Reborn! Long Live the Vongola Family!

-titangirl161


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